No signs of illegal alteration with the ball, says Waqar by Cricketachive Staff

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Player:

Waqar Younis, Inzamam-ul-Haq, DB Hair

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DateLine: 23rd September 2006

 

Pakistan's bowling coach Waqar Younis claimed that the ball in the controversial tampering saga that led to Pakistan forfeiting the Oval Test to England last month had showed no signs of illegal alteration.

 

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was subsequently charged with ball tampering and bringing the game into disrepute. The International Cricket Council will hold a hearing into the charges in London on September 27-28.

 

Waqar insisted that the ball, which had been used for 56 overs, showed no sign of having been tampered with. The former Pakistan Test paceman said he saw the ball immediately after it was taken from the field.

 

“I went straight into the referee's room and asked to see the ball. There was nothing wrong with it. I went and told the boys that I thought it was totally wrong. I promise you nothing was wrong with it. There were 30-odd cameras at the ground that didn't see anything, so you would think there had to be something wrong with the ball for Darrell (Hair) to do what he did. It was bad for cricket, but if you ask me, it was good for our country and our reputation,” Waqar added.